What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s academic lecture that redefined Beowulf criticism in 1936?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1936 lecture was titled Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.

Tolkien delivered the lecture as the Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture at the British Academy on 25 November 1936. It was later published in 1937 and became one of the most influential modern discussions of the Old English poem Beowulf.

The lecture argued that critics had focused too heavily on historical details and had undervalued the poem as a work of art. Tolkien defended the importance of its monsters, especially Grendel and the dragon, arguing that they were central to the poem’s structure and meaning rather than embarrassing leftovers from primitive storytelling.

The essay is not the same as Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf or his later fictional work. Its importance lies in literary criticism: it helped shift scholarly attention toward the poem’s artistic unity, symbolism, and narrative design. The lecture remains a standard reference in Beowulf studies.